Bears training camp diaries with Sam Roush, Neville Gallimore | Week 4
As told to Gabby Hajduk

Tight end Sam Roush — a third-round selection from Stanford — and defensive tackle Neville Gallimore — a seven-year veteran who signed with the Bears in free agency — share their training camp experiences from rookie and veteran perspectives exclusively on ChicagoBears.com. This series will feature both players giving first-person accounts once a week throughout training camp.

We had our first road trip experience last week It was a similar vibe to traveling in college, but everything felt more professional. There were a lot more people traveling, from players to support staff, and the biggest difference, literally, was that the plane was huge. So that was cool.

We obviously got there four days before the game since we also had a joint practice, so I know the meeting cadence and everything was different than what it'll be for a typical away game, but there was still more freedom than what I was used to in college. We went through our usual meetings and walk-throughs after practice Thursday and on Friday, but there was less time-filler stuff, especially on game day. Everyone was just locked in and ready to go.

Joint practice itself was fun. It was just nice to get some reps against guys that aren't your teammates and have a new experience since joint practices only happen at the NFL level. It was cool to travel to another city and experience their training camp.

Because we were all together at the hotel for a few days, we got to hang out as a team a good bit. We had food trucks at the hotel one night, and the next night the guys went out to dinner with their position groups, so we had a tight end dinner at a steakhouse. We just ordered a bunch of steaks and appetizers family style. It was really fun to hang out outside of our usual time spent together. That team bonding was something coach has talked about in regard to joint practices and being intentional about growing closer as a unit. Luckily, I haven't gotten to the rookie dinner yet – Cole picked up the tab – but I know my time is coming.

As far as the game, it was obviously my first night game experience in the NFL, which was cool, but I stuck to my routine as best as possible. Before the game, coach had a really good message for the team. He was saying that if you know you've got a spot on the team, still do everything you can to get better in this last stretch of preseason and camp. And if you're on the bubble, go out there and make an impression. That was really cool to hear.

Ultimately, the goal every time you step onto the field is to try to get better, whatever that looks like. So that was my approach for the second preseason game, and I feel like I achieved that. I felt like I played a little bit faster this week, and on offense, I had a few catches, which felt good. I had one longer one for over 20 yards. It was a movement play, and I was pretty wide open, so I didn't have to do much. I think I made one guy miss, and then Hayden (Large) did a really good job of getting attached to his guy, so really a credit to him and everyone out there doing their job.

What stood out to me the most, though, was I definitely improved on special teams in this game. I'm still not where I want to be, but my play was a little bit cleaner and more consistent. It's honestly been a while since I've played consistently on the core four special teams units — probably since my sophomore year of college. I know that's something I'll probably do a lot of this year, so it was nice to take a step in the right direction.

Special teams is something I've been really honing in on in camp — just making sure I'm attacking our special teams periods with the same intensity as the team periods or individual drills. There's a good amount of technique involved in special teams, but a lot of it comes down to effort and want to, so I've really focused on training that in practices so I can bring it to game days.​

I've been learning a lot about special teams from guys like (Daniel) Hardy and (Jack) Sanborn and then Stephen (Carlson) and Niko (Nikola Kalinic), who are in the tight end room with me. They've been helping me out on kickoff return and punt return, specifically, because there's some more technique involved in what we're doing, and I've been a little bit slower to pick all of that up. It's a really good receptive culture within that group, and we're all trying to make each other better.

It's also been cool to see how involved coach Ben is with special teams. Whenever we have a special teams period in practice, he's standing in the middle watching and evaluating. I feel like special teams in general aren't always taken as seriously as they should be, but here we do a great job of emphasizing their importance, and I think it shows. Special teams was definitely a highlight last season and was a reason for winning games, so we're really looking to make that the case again this year.

We're heading back on the road this week, this time to Nashville to have a joint practice and our final preseason game against the Titans. My family and I moved to Green Hills, a suburb of Nashville, before my senior year of high school, and my parents still live there. I think they're going to come out to the joint practice and hopefully I'll have some time to see them afterward.

I also reached out to my high school coach, Trent Dilfer, who left for a couple of years to coach in college but is back at Lipscomb Academy, and was able to get him and some of his players tickets to the game. Even just being coached by him my senior year, he made a big impact on me and my game, so I'm excited to see him as well.

All I'm focusing on at this point in camp is continuing to get better day by day. Obviously it's not linear — there's ups and downs — but if I'm trending upward, I'll be happy with the way I'm progressing, and that can only help the team in the long run. I'm really excited for another opportunity to do that this weekend, both at the joint practice and in our final preseason game.

For our first joint practice of camp, the biggest message was making sure that the work we've put in, the standard that we've established at Halas Hall, is shown, no matter where we're at or who we're competing against. We had a great opportunity to do that in Cincinnati last week, and I do feel like our presence was felt in how we attacked the day, how we went about our drills, how we displayed our fundamentals.

Obviously, there's always things we could have done better and things we need to lock in on. That's following any practice. For me, it goes back to technique and consistency. Whether we're practicing against our teammates or, in this case, a new opponent, the biggest thing I'm chasing is that consistency to really be effective and be a valuable part of this team. That will be my focus again going into Tennessee this week.

It did feel great to go up against another really great team in the Bengals and take a break from competing against your own guys. The competitiveness that you get in a joint practice is great, and that's what makes NFL ball so awesome. You get a taste of something new and different, and there's so many learnings that come from it.

One thing that really stood out to me in Cincinnati was our chemistry on the defensive side. It's grown so much from OTAs to the first day of training camp to now. We have a ways to go, but the connection we've established as a team and as a defense is showing. That really became clear in the team periods versus the Bengals. Obviously, you're in a new environment, it's not your home crowd, a lot of unfamiliar faces, so you have to rely on the guy next to you. It's a great opportunity to show that mentality of, "we're all we got, but we're all we need."

I will say, though, we had some Bears fans out at the practice and the game, which was cool. Bears fans travel, man. I even joked with a few of them. I was like, "So what do y'all do?" And they're like, "this! Like it's football season, it's Bears season. We're here."

I feel like if they could have our schedule, they'd do it all with us. Like, "You guys are up at 6 a.m.? We'll be up at 6 a.m. You guys are done at 9 p.m.? We'll be done at 9 p.m." I really feel like the jobs here are like "oh, yeah, you can miss four days to go to a Bears practice or a Bears game. No problem." It's just love, man. This fanbase makes you want to perform and play hard for them. We just have such awesome people supporting us.

Being on the road for a few days, we had a chance to build on that chemistry away from the field. We had a D-line dinner at a steakhous one night, and the camaraderie there was great. The food was awesome, but I feel like the time spent together was even better, just for the fact that it was a chance for us to get away and connect. You can just laugh and joke and be ourselves — let our quote-unquote hair down. And obviously I don't have any hair, so I can't literally let my hair down. But it gave us all an opportunity to vibe, be with the fellas and talk about things other than football, even though we still ended up talking about football.

We've got one more opportunity to go against another opponent before things really start to count. So my biggest focus in Tennessee this weekend is continuing to improve and build that trust with my teammates and coaches. Just being consistent, effective, violent — making sure I'm being where my feet are at. I really want to make sure that what I'm displaying day in and day out is something that my teammates and coaches can hang their hat on.

I'm excited to see our young guys, Jordan van den Berg and Jayden Loving, go to work again. I just love their stories. They're both just freaks of nature, but have such a willingness to learn and compete. Both of those guys are great rookies and great guys. They have so much untapped potential and come in with great mindsets every day. They just want to work and get better. It's like having two little brothers because they're always coming to us like, "Is this good? Is this good? Did I do this right?" We're like, "Yo, it's good, chill, breathe, just play ball." But that mentality is perfect for rookies.

Jordan had one of the best moments last game when he chased down the quarterback and dove to try and tackle him. He's such a unique talent. He's so powerful yet so fast. And then he's the type to dive and then get up and be like, "I'm so sorry, I didn't get him down. What could I have done better?" All of us are like, "dude you just ran 30 yards; like, you're fine. Shut up, breathe. Great job." So I can't wait to see those guys take another step this weekend and continue to fight for a spot here.